News Jamie Dimon Is Now a Billionaire, and He Got There in an Unusual Way

Jamie Dimon, who helped assemble Citigroup Inc. and then improved on the experiment with JPMorgan Chase & Co., is responsible for two of the biggest banks the world has ever seen. His life’s work also made him rich.

With JPMorgan shares near a record high, Dimon’s net worth is about $1.1 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Dimon’s fortune derives from a $485 million stake in New York-based JPMorgan, where he’s been chief executive officer since the end of 2005, and an investment portfolio seeded by proceeds from Citigroup stock sales.

Dimon’s status is unusual because, with the exception of former mentor Sanford “Sandy” Weill, few bank managers accumulate that much wealth. Most finance-industry billionaires start businesses or investment firms, such as hedge-fund tycoon George Soros, who is worth $28.5 billion, or Blackstone Group LP co-founder Steve Schwarzman, worth $13.4 billion.

“The odds are much, much lower for a bank CEO becoming a billionaire than a guy going to a hedge fund or private equity,” said Roy Smith, a professor at New York University Stern School of Business and a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. partner who started on Wall Street in 1966. “The real lucre in this business has always been on the transactional side. The CEOs of Wall Street have to deal with litigation, regulation and the relatively short tenures you have at the top of the pile.”

‘Don’t Regret’
Dimon, 59, took a different approach. Turning down job offers from firms including Goldman Sachs, he joined Weill at American Express Co. in 1982. The pair later gained control of Baltimore-based Commercial Credit, starting a takeover spree that spurred industry consolidation and culminated in the 1998 creation of Citigroup, then the world’s biggest financial-services firm.

“I joined Sandy Weill out of business school at American Express, I don’t regret that,” Dimon said in a talk in October. “I’ve had two companies. It’s kind of like, I put the jersey on, and that’s it. I’m not a hired gun, I’m not a hired hand.”

Joe Evangelisti, a spokesman for JPMorgan, said Dimon declined to comment about his wealth.

A brusque native New Yorker, Dimon helped execute Weill’s mergers and took increasingly important roles at the target companies, from president of Primerica Corp. to CEO of Smith Barney and president of Citigroup, becoming known for cutting costs and integrating systems.

Forced Out
Forced out by Weill in 1998, Dimon sold 2.3 million Citigroup shares after his exit, according to public filings, collecting an estimated $110 million before taxes.

The after-tax proceeds from that and other stock sales, dividends and about $115 million in salary since 1991 would be worth about $540 million if he invested the money in a blend of stocks, bonds, hedge funds, commodities and cash, assuming a weighted average annual return of 6.7 percent over the past 24 years, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

In his second act, Dimon became CEO of Chicago-based Bank One in 2000. He improved that lender’s balance sheet and profits and later sold it to JPMorgan, becoming the combined firm’s CEO at the end of 2005 and adding the chairman title the next year. The bank absorbed weakened institutions during the financial crisis and by 2011 had leapfrogged Citigroup and Bank of America Corp. to become the largest lender in the U.S. by assets.

Record Earnings
Under Dimon, JPMorgan has become what most analysts consider the best-run of the universal banks, which have both consumer banking and Wall Street operations. Unlike competitors, it remained profitable during the crisis and produced record earnings in four of the past five years. JPMorgan shares have climbed 66 percent since the end of 2005, when Dimon took the reins, outperforming the 87-company Standard & Poor’s 500 Financials Index, which fell 22 percent over the same period.

Dimon owns 6.1 million shares of JPMorgan valued at about $404 million based on Tuesday’s closing price of $66.02. He also has 3.2 million exercisable options worth more than $80 million, according to company filings. The Bloomberg net-worth calculation excludes unexercisable options, some restricted shares and $4.1 million in contributions he has made to the James and Judith K. Dimon Foundation. It also assumes taxes are paid at the highest rate.

Real estate holdings include a Westchester home and Park Avenue apartments valued at $32 million. The estimate is based on the 2006 purchase price of the 30-acre property in Bedford Corners, New York, and the current market value of his primary Park Avenue residence.

Lightning Rod
Dimon’s wealth -- he was awarded $20 million in compensation for 2014 -- and his criticism of regulators and adversaries has made him a lightning rod for those decrying income inequality and the existence of too-big-to-fail banks. Even a Dimon family holiday greeting card featuring the father of three swinging a tennis racket in a well-appointed apartment was lambasted in Time magazine as “tone deaf.”

Unbowed, Dimon is his industry’s most prominent defender, arguing repeatedly that megabanks with diverse revenue streams are safer than smaller firms. While JPMorgan’s performance during the crisis bolstered his case, the company has since racked up $36 billion in legal costs settling a litany of claims and pleaded guilty to a criminal antitrust violation last month.

Jamie Dimon, who helped assemble Citigroup Inc. and then improved on the experiment with JPMorgan Chase & Co., is responsible for two of the biggest banks the world has ever seen. His life’s work also made him rich.

With JPMorgan shares near a record high, Dimon’s net worth is about $1.1 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Dimon’s fortune derives from a $485 million stake in New York-based JPMorgan, where he’s been chief executive officer since the end of 2005, and an investment portfolio seeded by proceeds from Citigroup stock sales.

Dimon’s status is unusual because, with the exception of former mentor Sanford “Sandy” Weill, few bank managers accumulate that much wealth. Most finance-industry billionaires start businesses or investment firms, such as hedge-fund tycoon George Soros, who is worth $28.5 billion, or Blackstone Group LP co-founder Steve Schwarzman, worth $13.4 billion.

“The odds are much, much lower for a bank CEO becoming a billionaire than a guy going to a hedge fund or private equity,” said Roy Smith, a professor at New York University Stern School of Business and a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. partner who started on Wall Street in 1966. “The real lucre in this business has always been on the transactional side. The CEOs of Wall Street have to deal with litigation, regulation and the relatively short tenures you have at the top of the pile.”

‘Don’t Regret’
Dimon, 59, took a different approach. Turning down job offers from firms including Goldman Sachs, he joined Weill at American Express Co. in 1982. The pair later gained control of Baltimore-based Commercial Credit, starting a takeover spree that spurred industry consolidation and culminated in the 1998 creation of Citigroup, then the world’s biggest financial-services firm.

“I joined Sandy Weill out of business school at American Express, I don’t regret that,” Dimon said in a talk in October. “I’ve had two companies. It’s kind of like, I put the jersey on, and that’s it. I’m not a hired gun, I’m not a hired hand.”

Joe Evangelisti, a spokesman for JPMorgan, said Dimon declined to comment about his wealth.

A brusque native New Yorker, Dimon helped execute Weill’s mergers and took increasingly important roles at the target companies, from president of Primerica Corp. to CEO of Smith Barney and president of Citigroup, becoming known for cutting costs and integrating systems.

Forced Out
Forced out by Weill in 1998, Dimon sold 2.3 million Citigroup shares after his exit, according to public filings, collecting an estimated $110 million before taxes.

The after-tax proceeds from that and other stock sales, dividends and about $115 million in salary since 1991 would be worth about $540 million if he invested the money in a blend of stocks, bonds, hedge funds, commodities and cash, assuming a weighted average annual return of 6.7 percent over the past 24 years, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

In his second act, Dimon became CEO of Chicago-based Bank One in 2000. He improved that lender’s balance sheet and profits and later sold it to JPMorgan, becoming the combined firm’s CEO at the end of 2005 and adding the chairman title the next year. The bank absorbed weakened institutions during the financial crisis and by 2011 had leapfrogged Citigroup and Bank of America Corp. to become the largest lender in the U.S. by assets.

Record Earnings
Under Dimon, JPMorgan has become what most analysts consider the best-run of the universal banks, which have both consumer banking and Wall Street operations. Unlike competitors, it remained profitable during the crisis and produced record earnings in four of the past five years. JPMorgan shares have climbed 66 percent since the end of 2005, when Dimon took the reins, outperforming the 87-company Standard & Poor’s 500 Financials Index, which fell 22 percent over the same period.

Dimon owns 6.1 million shares of JPMorgan valued at about $404 million based on Tuesday’s closing price of $66.02. He also has 3.2 million exercisable options worth more than $80 million, according to company filings. The Bloomberg net-worth calculation excludes unexercisable options, some restricted shares and $4.1 million in contributions he has made to the James and Judith K. Dimon Foundation. It also assumes taxes are paid at the highest rate.

Real estate holdings include a Westchester home and Park Avenue apartments valued at $32 million. The estimate is based on the 2006 purchase price of the 30-acre property in Bedford Corners, New York, and the current market value of his primary Park Avenue residence.

Lightning Rod
Dimon’s wealth -- he was awarded $20 million in compensation for 2014 -- and his criticism of regulators and adversaries has made him a lightning rod for those decrying income inequality and the existence of too-big-to-fail banks. Even a Dimon family holiday greeting card featuring the father of three swinging a tennis racket in a well-appointed apartment was lambasted in Time magazine as “tone deaf.”

Unbowed, Dimon is his industry’s most prominent defender, arguing repeatedly that megabanks with diverse revenue streams are safer than smaller firms. While JPMorgan’s performance during the crisis bolstered his case, the company has since racked up $36 billion in legal costs settling a litany of claims and pleaded guilty to a criminal antitrust violation last month.

this is why analysts are assholes and they should be read like you read Dilbert.

In order to be ok about paying the fees JPM demands for its services, people (even the well-heeled ones) have to be pretty confident that they are getting the best service possible for the extra money they are spending. Have you seen JPM desperately chasing customers, ever?

Jamie Dimon, who helped assemble Citigroup Inc. and then improved on the experiment with JPMorgan Chase & Co., is responsible for two of the biggest banks the world has ever seen. His life’s work also made him rich.

With JPMorgan shares near a record high, Dimon’s net worth is about $1.1 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Dimon’s fortune derives from a $485 million stake in New York-based JPMorgan, where he’s been chief executive officer since the end of 2005, and an investment portfolio seeded by proceeds from Citigroup stock sales.

Dimon’s status is unusual because, with the exception of former mentor Sanford “Sandy” Weill, few bank managers accumulate that much wealth. Most finance-industry billionaires start businesses or investment firms, such as hedge-fund tycoon George Soros, who is worth $28.5 billion, or Blackstone Group LP co-founder Steve Schwarzman, worth $13.4 billion.

“The odds are much, much lower for a bank CEO becoming a billionaire than a guy going to a hedge fund or private equity,” said Roy Smith, a professor at New York University Stern School of Business and a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. partner who started on Wall Street in 1966. “The real lucre in this business has always been on the transactional side. The CEOs of Wall Street have to deal with litigation, regulation and the relatively short tenures you have at the top of the pile.”

‘Don’t Regret’
Dimon, 59, took a different approach. Turning down job offers from firms including Goldman Sachs, he joined Weill at American Express Co. in 1982. The pair later gained control of Baltimore-based Commercial Credit, starting a takeover spree that spurred industry consolidation and culminated in the 1998 creation of Citigroup, then the world’s biggest financial-services firm.

“I joined Sandy Weill out of business school at American Express, I don’t regret that,” Dimon said in a talk in October. “I’ve had two companies. It’s kind of like, I put the jersey on, and that’s it. I’m not a hired gun, I’m not a hired hand.”

Joe Evangelisti, a spokesman for JPMorgan, said Dimon declined to comment about his wealth.

A brusque native New Yorker, Dimon helped execute Weill’s mergers and took increasingly important roles at the target companies, from president of Primerica Corp. to CEO of Smith Barney and president of Citigroup, becoming known for cutting costs and integrating systems.

Forced Out
Forced out by Weill in 1998, Dimon sold 2.3 million Citigroup shares after his exit, according to public filings, collecting an estimated $110 million before taxes.

The after-tax proceeds from that and other stock sales, dividends and about $115 million in salary since 1991 would be worth about $540 million if he invested the money in a blend of stocks, bonds, hedge funds, commodities and cash, assuming a weighted average annual return of 6.7 percent over the past 24 years, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

In his second act, Dimon became CEO of Chicago-based Bank One in 2000. He improved that lender’s balance sheet and profits and later sold it to JPMorgan, becoming the combined firm’s CEO at the end of 2005 and adding the chairman title the next year. The bank absorbed weakened institutions during the financial crisis and by 2011 had leapfrogged Citigroup and Bank of America Corp. to become the largest lender in the U.S. by assets.

Record Earnings
Under Dimon, JPMorgan has become what most analysts consider the best-run of the universal banks, which have both consumer banking and Wall Street operations. Unlike competitors, it remained profitable during the crisis and produced record earnings in four of the past five years. JPMorgan shares have climbed 66 percent since the end of 2005, when Dimon took the reins, outperforming the 87-company Standard & Poor’s 500 Financials Index, which fell 22 percent over the same period.

Dimon owns 6.1 million shares of JPMorgan valued at about $404 million based on Tuesday’s closing price of $66.02. He also has 3.2 million exercisable options worth more than $80 million, according to company filings. The Bloomberg net-worth calculation excludes unexercisable options, some restricted shares and $4.1 million in contributions he has made to the James and Judith K. Dimon Foundation. It also assumes taxes are paid at the highest rate.

Real estate holdings include a Westchester home and Park Avenue apartments valued at $32 million. The estimate is based on the 2006 purchase price of the 30-acre property in Bedford Corners, New York, and the current market value of his primary Park Avenue residence.

Lightning Rod
Dimon’s wealth -- he was awarded $20 million in compensation for 2014 -- and his criticism of regulators and adversaries has made him a lightning rod for those decrying income inequality and the existence of too-big-to-fail banks. Even a Dimon family holiday greeting card featuring the father of three swinging a tennis racket in a well-appointed apartment was lambasted in Time magazine as “tone deaf.”

Unbowed, Dimon is his industry’s most prominent defender, arguing repeatedly that megabanks with diverse revenue streams are safer than smaller firms. While JPMorgan’s performance during the crisis bolstered his case, the company has since racked up $36 billion in legal costs settling a litany of claims and pleaded guilty to a criminal antitrust violation last month.

He stole WAMU from those shareholders with the help of the government and in a better world should be sitting in prison. He will likely be rotting in hell shortly. I doubt he has found a way to take his ill gotten gain with him nor can he use it to buy his way into heaven.

He stole WAMU from those shareholders with the help of the government and in a better world should be sitting in prison. He will likely be rotting in hell shortly. I doubt he has found a way to take his ill gotten gain with him nor can he use it to buy his way into heaven.

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how do you think he stole it? the feds came to him and said "Please buy this bank before we have to liquidate it!" if someone offers you a dollar for a penny and you don't take it, you might as well kill yourself now. The feds begged him to take Wamu for pennies on the dollar.

Is this the same billionaire who amassed over $30 Billion dollars in criminal fines as CEO and leader of JP Morgan Chase? Is this the same billionaire who recently cut another 5,000 jobs for employees under his leadership? Is this the same billionaire who's company just announced that they will eliminate voicemail in order to implement another cost saving measure?

Is this the same billionaire who amassed over $30 Billion dollars in criminal fines as CEO and leader of JP Morgan Chase? Is this the same billionaire who recently cut another 5,000 jobs for employees under his leadership? Is this the same billionaire who's company just announced that they will eliminate voicemail in order to implement another cost saving measure?

Click to expand...

Yeah, he's a greedy shithead. We get it.
You act like someone here's defending him

Is this the same billionaire who amassed over $30 Billion dollars in criminal fines as CEO and leader of JP Morgan Chase? Is this the same billionaire who recently cut another 5,000 jobs for employees under his leadership? Is this the same billionaire who's company just announced that they will eliminate voicemail in order to implement another cost saving measure?

Click to expand...

yes. and during each year that the bank was fined, the bank still made approx $20 billion in net profits even after the fines were reserved. its all clearly stated in the bank's federal filings and published annual report.

the papers don't tell the whole story about those layoffs: at the same time they are laying off 5000 people they are also hiring another 40,000. this is a normal operations for an investment bank: they adjust the resources to match changing market conditions. not only is this nothing new or unique to jpm, it is actually a positive change.

and if you bothered to read the article about the voicemail instead of just parroting some hate-mongering shill, you would have read that they are only eliminating voicemail from the commercial and consumer banking since it is not used. the bank is all digital and communications are face to face, IM and eMail. voicemail is not needed so they are disabling it for those departments that barely use it anyways. the banking part of the bank is a relatively small operation so it is not a big effect.

Yeah, he's a greedy shithead. We get it.
You act like someone here's defending him

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uh i resemble that remark.

Dimon is a major player. you don't get that way without stepping on a lot of toes. He does a lot of questionable things, but at the same time he does a lot (way more) positive things for those who invest and for those who demonstrate loyalty.

The difference between other senior players and Dimon is that they bled their investors and companies dry and Dimon has made the investors rich. waaaaah waaaaah waaaaah.

Dimon is a major player. you don't get that way without stepping on a lot of toes. He does a lot of questionable things, but at the same time he does a lot (way more) positive things for those who invest and for those who demonstrate loyalty.

The difference between other senior players and Dimon is that they bled their investors and companies dry and Dimon has made the investors rich. waaaaah waaaaah waaaaah.

Very interesting!!!...Timothy Geithner was president of the New York Fed that bailed Citi out...Paulson was former CEO of Goldman. Paulson was the Secretary of the Treasury at the time Geithner was in New York.
Geithner had to bail Citi out because of the illegal sub-prime mortgage backed securities on their books.
Paulson was Chief Negotiator for Lehman as they were being force into bankruptcy by JP Morgan.
Paulson orchestrated the partnership that came to be know as MERS and associates, comprised of Lehman, HSBC, Deutshe, GMAC, Ocwen, Lehman and MERS.
According to courts in New York, this group put over 6 million illegal transactions into the system.
The rest of the story can be found on Facebook.
"Real Estate Crisis or Government Sanctioned Racketeering?"

Very interesting!!!...Timothy Geithner was president of the New York Fed that bailed Citi out...Paulson was former CEO of Goldman. Paulson was the Secretary of the Treasury at the time Geithner was in New York.
Geithner had to bail Citi out because of the illegal sub-prime mortgage backed securities on their books.
Paulson was Chief Negotiator for Lehman as they were being force into bankruptcy by JP Morgan.
Paulson orchestrated the partnership that came to be know as MERS and associates, comprised of Lehman, HSBC, Deutshe, GMAC, Ocwen, Lehman and MERS.
According to courts in New York, this group put over 6 million illegal transactions into the system.
The rest of the story can be found on Facebook.
"Real Estate Crisis or Government Sanctioned Racketeering?"

Click to expand...

because Facebook is just so lilly white and innocent, while being a totally reliable news agency?

Capone would roll over in his grave.Diamon heads the largest predator thieving bank in USA.To date paid out 40 Billion in legal fees for all their thieving,which doubled assets by 2 Trillion off 15 Million homeowners who lost their homes.